1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bag manufacturing and packaging system having a vertical bag manufacturing and packaging machine that manufacture a plurality of bags filled with articles to be packaged by sealing a continuous tubular packaging material filled with the articles, and that cuts out and ejects the bags toward a downstream portion.
2. Background Information
Bag manufacturing and packaging machines are a type of vertical bag manufacturing and packaging system for loading snack food or other articles that is to be packaged into a bag while the bag is being manufactured.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-037206 (published Feb. 6, 2002) discloses a conventional bag manufacturing and packaging machine in which the packaging material is a sheet-form film that is formed into a tubular shape by a former and a tube. The overlapping vertical edges of the tubular packaging material are heat sealed (heat welded) by a vertical sealing mechanism, resulting in tubular packaging material. The articles are filled from the tube to the inside of the tubular packaging material, which will ultimately be made into bags. The upper end parts of the bag and the subsequent lower end parts of the following bag are heat-sealed in an overlapping manner by the sealing jaws of a horizontal sealing mechanism below the tube. The center of the heat-sealed portion (the horizontally sealed portion) is then cut by a cutter.
The cut bags are received onto a chute conveyor that is positioned directly below the horizontal sealing mechanism. The bags are then conveyed to a seal checker or other post-processing device positioned downstream.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved bag manufacturing and packaging system. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.